A Humbled Kobe Bryant Says ‘I Thought Opposing Fans Hated Me’

Kobe Bryant was having a horrible, no-good, very bad season up until this weekend. He was taking and missing a ton of shots while his young and inexperienced and impressionable teammates watched the losses pile up all around them. But when he announced on Sunday that he will indeed retire after this season, it helped put things in perspective.

Watching him unconscionably hoist so many contested or otherwise ill-advised shots – undoubtedly at the expense of the development of said younger teammates – was automatically made more palatable given the knowledge that these are the last times we’ll ever have the privilege to see him do so. And that’s a fact that isn’t lost on even his most vehement detractors, i.e. just about every opposing team’s fan-base, as he continues to receive warm receptions at each stop along his retirement tour.

It started during his final game at Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago, continued with a pre-game tribute in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, and carried into Washington as he and the Lakers squared off against the Wizards in what ended up being the vintage Kobe Bryant performance we’d been waiting for all season. Afterwards, he received a raucous ovation from the hometown crowd despite their team’s loss at his hands.

All of it seems to have caught him off-guard a little bit, as he told reporters after Wednesday’s win.

Kobe has always been a polarizing figure, particularly among opposing teams’ fans, none of whom have escaped the Mamba’s deadly touch over the years. But having a villain, having someone you love to hate, is all part of the game, and Kobe filled that role like few others before him. But he was also a transcendent player who blessed us with spectacular performances at which you could only marvel, regardless of who you were rooting for, and that’s why fans across the league will continue to show their appreciation as his farewell tour continues.